MY WHISTLER

LGBT, TOURISM INDUSTRY LEADER STORY BY DAVID BURKE
IMAGES BY JOERN ROHDE

When did you first come to Whistler? What attracted you to the resort,
and why did you decide to stay?

I sashayed my way up to Whistler way back in October 1992, when I was
offered a junior manager role with the brand-new Holiday Inn Sunspree.

I was fresh out of my Resort Hotel Management program at TRU and eager
to put my passion and skills to work. Whistler is a very infectious place. Just
as you start to tire of the winter season, that sweet smell of spring quickly
intoxicates you into submission with all the exciting spring and summer
activities at your fingertips. Then summer starts to fade, and there is that
crispness in the mountain air, a light glitter in the atmosphere and the moon
glows in an exotic rainbow. Winter is coming, and daydreams of big epic pow
days begin. How could I possibly leave?

How did you become involved with Gay Ski Week/Whistler Pride?

I was introduced to the annual Gay Ski Week by the original founder Brent
Benaschak back in 1993 as a hotel partner. As I became more comfortable
with my sexuality, I became a member of the local LGBTQ Ski Club, skiOUT,
and started to help Peter Diniz with some of the social events. In 2006 when
the annual Gay Ski Week was in jeopardy of being cancelled, a group of us
banded together and devised a rescue plan to save the event. It was just too
important to the resort and to the LGBTQ community to let it just die. So, I
jumped in with both feet and have been leading the charge since.

What are some of the reasons it has been and continues to be so
successful?

I think why Whistler Pride continues to be the leading Gay Ski Week on the
planet is the programming continues to evolve with our audience. As the
festival ages, so do our festival attendees. What was important a decade ago
is not as relevant today. We are doing more social programming like our Game
Night and select culinary events. The Ski Guide Program continues to be
the best in the world as our guides are passionate about our mountains, our
festival and resort community.

TRAVELLER I RAVES & FAVES
At the age of 7 or 8, Dean Nelson knew he was
“different” from most other boys, but didn’t tell his
parents. He was still “very ambiguous” about his
sexuality until 1993, while he was working at the
then-new Holiday Inn Sunspree in Whistler, one
of the sponsors of what was called Altitude at
the time, a.k.a. Gay Ski Week. After coming “out”
around that time, he started helping at some of
the events. With the festival in need of rescuing,
he and a group of friends took a leap of faith
by taking over in 2006. Growing into more
than just skiing and partying — Whistler Pride
(Jan. 21 to 28, 2018) includes a wide range of
entertainment, charitable, health and wellness,
and culinary events. During the 2010 Winter
Olympics, Nelson helped establish Pride Houses
in Vancouver and Whistler, welcoming spaces
for LGBTQ athletes, coaches and Games
supporters. In 2016, his activism earned him a
human rights leadership award from his alma
mater, Thompson Rivers University (TRU); and
in June 2017, Travel Gay Canada named him
LGBT Tourism Leader of the Year.